When describing my planned kitchen remodel a friend said "you will break down at least once during construction." I nonchalantly said "no way, I've got this under control." That statement now makes me laugh.

While working from home today I strolled in to the dining area to grab some juice from the still-plugged-in refrigerator. The contractor mumbled something about the floor being damaged by water so I threw out something like "does that mean we'll need to pull up the cabinets we didn't plan to replace or is there another option?"

The contractor explained that what's visible is a "piecemeal floor". As in, not really planned and pieced together (hence the map now visible ON the floor itself.) Oh and damaged by water which means probably unstable long term.

It took me about 2 hours to reach acceptance phase: this project WILL cost more than I expected and I can't take shortcuts without risking problems down the road. I drafted and then sent an email to Olga (Cabinets & Beyond, San Mateo) with this message:

Heads up: we might need to put a rush order on more cabinets!

And then I went for a walk around the block (after work of course.) Breakdown averted for today.